The Judge (2014) Review

The Judge by all accounts should be a top notch drama with a great leading cast yet sadly falls short in every department it should exceed in.

Story wise The Judge follows Hank Palmer (Robert Downey Jr) a big city lawyer who after returning to his small town home where his family resides soon finds out that his father, the towns judge, is suspected of a hit and run murder. Now representing his dad he has to deal with the trail that could ruin his fathers career and life while also dealing with the family issues that caused him to leave town in the first place.

The problem with the story is that its something that has been done in a similar nature before and feels like it should of been a made for TV film but given wide release because they slapped a big name cast on it. Clocking in at nearly 2 and a half hours as well the film drags on especially in the middle. It nearly kills the film and any momentum that occurs. I’d imagine they could cut close to an hour of the film and end with a much better result.

Not even two top tier cast members could save this film. Robert Downey Jr does an excellent role that he will be remembered by for being different then his normal films at the moment. Robert Duvall as expected does a great job too though his role to this is more keen to what one would normally expect from him.

Overall The Judge could of been great but with too many factors weighing it down it lost the chance to be memorable or even good for that matter. I can’t really recommend it to anyone, at best if your dying to see it make this one just a rental.